The WWE was in good shape to close out the year of 2006. John Cena and Batista were the company's two champions, and they were huge draws. DX was back in full force, and making a killing in the merchandise department. Rated RKO was a great heel tag team. The midcard department was stocked with major talent on the rise, including Mr. Kennedy, MVP, CM Punk, Umaga, and Lashley. Things were looking bright.

That is until in December, the CW network decided to not pick up Smackdown! for 2007. A wave of panic was sent through the WWE. The rosters were obviously too big for just Raw and ECW, and some changes had to be made. WWE was seeing a big change, the Draft Split between Raw and Smackdown was over after nearly 5 years.

There was some much needed roster cuts throughout December. A few jobbers were let go, some that were probably set to be fired after Wrestlemania anyways. However, there were a few major shakeups to the roster. Rey Mysterio, fresh from his World Title run and taking time off, was called and approached about returning to ECW. Rey Rey felt like he was going to get buried after having just been champion, and was not interested. However, he knew that being on Raw with all the politics, he could get buried there as well. So, Rey Mysterio decided to not return to the WWE, and move on with his career, after spending more time with his children.

Some of the roster cuts caught the superstars with shock, such as the release of current Cruiserweight Champion, Gregory Helms. The title was retired at the beginning of 2007. With Batista set to turn heel and fued with John Cena for a good part of the year, unifying the World and WWE title, there was not a need for 2 heel monsters, so Umaga was let go, as well. A few other releases that made fans scratch their heads, were the releases of the tag team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, as well as Chavo Guerrero. The biggest release may have came in the form of Rob Van Dam. Despite the expectations of RVD parting ways witht he company later in the year, most superstars were pushing hard for Vince to make sure RVD returned.

The real punch to the stomach for the WWE, was a superstar walking out on his contract, pulling a Stone Cold. The culprit? Adam Copeland, aka Edge. Edge was first asked to move to ECW, which he shot down immediately. Creative then suggested a storyline in which Edge would become more deranged after a long losing streak in 2007, while the main event scene was crowded. Edge was not interested. The final offer was an Intercontinental title run. Edge, having just come off a Tag title run, was not interested, as he was supposed to become World Heavyweight Champion in the early part of the year, before the brand split. Edge no-showed an event, before calling Vince and telling him that he was done. Vince ripped up his contract shortly after, witht he belief that TNA was out of the cards for Edge.

The final shakeup for the WWE, was Randy Orton's contract running up in December. Orton was already wanting to take some time to make a decision, even before Smackdown! was cancelled, and this just made the decision even harder for Orton. With Triple H, Cena, Batista,Undertaker and HBK all on one show now as faces, he knew that one of the top stars of the company would turn heel, thus resulting in him not being the top heel on the show. Kennedy was also set to recieve a major push, as a heel. With Edge having just left the company, Vince began courting Orton hard, doing everything he could to keep him. Orton told Vince that he would give him an answer after the holiday.

What a rough holiday for Vince. However, the WWE is still pumping with most of its major stars on board. However, the company may have lost some respect among these stars. Things are beginnning to get interesting in the sport, with major names as free agents. Could some of these stars be what TNA needs to get them over the mountain, or will they bring the rumored upstart promotion to life? Time will tell.

// Thanks guys for the comments, glad ya recognize me. And Dubya, I love ya. Next chapter is PWE coming to life!